From Russia With Love…And Respect For The Law

From Russia With Love…And Respect For The Law

by | Aug 21, 2018 | General

It would have been easy to break the law.  My Russian fiancé Elena and I, along with our new baby, could have easily obtained a Canadian tourist visa, hopped the ferry in Victoria, B.C., and illegally set up home in sanctuary city Port Townsend.  In this city that has announced its welcome to illegal aliens, Elena could receive public benefits, a driver’s license and enjoy police protection from federal detainers and deportation orders.

But that would have meant that Elena’s first act upon stepping on American soil would be to commit a crime.  We would implicate our child in criminality.  We didn’t have to think twice. This would not be the route for our family. Honesty and respect for law are among our core values.

Our journey was arduous. We confronted despair and frustration.  Our situation was incredibly complicated.  We made mistakes.  We learned.  We persevered.

If we could do it, so can anyone else.  There is no excuse for entering this country illegally.

A Long Journey

I awoke Christmas day, 2017, in the Dubai International Airport en route to a pregnant Elena in Belgorod, Russia.  We had heard nothing after submitting her application for a fiancé visa six months earlier.  As my flight departed, I found myself in a rare moment of prayer.  I prayed for our immigration application to be approved so our daughter could be born in the United States.

I arrived in a freezing Belgorod. It was a thrill to be met by my future wife and be able to spend the holidays together.

Bad news arrived in a letter from the US Customs and Immigration Service requesting additional evidence.  They wanted proof that ours was not going to be a sham marriage.  This was a heavy blow.  Such a letter often means visa denial.

In Belgorod I suffered a severe skull injury that sent me across Europe for a dizzying array of treatments.  That did not stop us.  We hired a lawyer to ensure we submitted the correct response to the USCIS letter. The paperwork we submitted was an inch and a half thick.

We waited. I called the US embassy and was told to wait more.  Weeks later we got the news that Elena’s visa had been approved.  We were instructed to call and schedule an appointment at the consulate in Moscow.

Bureaucracy, delays, frustration and fear

Due to the political tensions between Russia and the US, making an appointment was extremely difficult. Besides, no appointments were available.  Elena’s due date was fast approaching.  We had to accept our daughter not being born in the country we wanted to be her home.

We constantly tried to get an appointment while completing a list of tasks and gathering required documents.  You cannot imagine the nightmare of obtaining Russian government documents. Elena had to travel to a medical appointment 500 miles away to meet a visa requirement.  She began experiencing pregnancy-related problems.  We felt helpless and frustrated.  We were stressed to our limits.

May 25, 2018 was one of the greatest days of my life.  Our daughter Anastasia was born after suffering trauma from needlessly induced labor.  We now had daily trips on her behalf to doctors, physical therapy and massage.

Elena was finally able to get an appointment.  We rushed to complete our documentation. The three of us took an all-night train to Moscow and went straight from the station to the embassy.  We presented a stack of paper a foot high.  Elena’s visa was approved in ten minutes!

But now we had to prove that Anastasia was our daughter.

The extraordinary travel required by my medial care had produced “too many passport stamps,” we were told.  We needed more medical documents for Anastasia.  Once they were submitted, we could again expect to endure more waiting and uncertainty.  We quickly returned to the train station, made the long ride to Belgorod and got to work.

Two weeks after submitting all that was asked of us we still had no word.  I called the embassy and got a clueless bureaucrat.  I called again and was successful in finding someone who confirmed they had received our documents.

On July 19 we received approval to travel.  We arrived in Seattle July 26 and are now happily building lives here in Port Townsend.  Elena and I have our American marriage certificate.

The Right Decision

We are thankful we took the righteous, lawful path.  It is a contemptuous insult to follow the law diligently only to hear many of our fellow Port Townsend residents and elected officials—who swore to uphold the law upon taking office—celebrating law-breaking, open borders and clemency for illegal immigrants.  Our city council has dictated that police ignore our nation’s immigration laws and refuse to cooperate with fellow federal law enforcement officers.  The Russian girl I fell in love with has exhibited more respect for American law than these politicians.

Elena read over this article and wants to add this: “People who are desperate enough to decide to break laws in general are not respected in their own countries.  If Americans want to live in a civilized society, they should keep sending illegal immigrants back home.”

I am elated to be here with my wife and daughter.  The difficulties we endured were worth it, ten times over.  God bless America!

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Dumping a Rape Case, and Its Victim; State of Washington v. Patrick J. McAllister

Dumping a Rape Case, and Its Victim; State of Washington v. Patrick J. McAllister

by | Aug 18, 2018 | Politics

On April 26, 2018, in the midst of his reelection campaign, Jefferson County Prosecutor Michael Haas dismissed a rape case rather than take it to trial.  It is the case of SL, a 21-year old Filipino woman brought into this country by a Brinnon man 26 years older.  Court records reveal he had prior convictions for assaulting two women and was subject to restraining orders protecting four others.  After she arrived at his home in 2010, SL says he raped and beat her repeatedly.

A jury had little difficulty believing her.  It returned a guilty verdict on 31 counts of rape and assault.  The man was sentenced to 250 months in jail.  His conviction was upheld by the Washington Court of Appeals and denied review by the Washington Supreme Court.

In 2017 he was released after another panel of the Court of Appeals concluded his trial counsel had been ineffective and the defense had not been given a page in a police report that contradicted parts of SL’s testimony.

The case of State of Washington versus Patrick McAllister was sent back to Jefferson County Superior Court in August 2017.  Prosecutor Haas assigned himself responsibility for the retrial.  Eight months passed before he spoke to SL about the facts of her case.

Haas’s re-election is being opposed by one of the prosecutors who left Haas’s office, which has seen a 130% turnover in staff.  James Kennedy, now a prosecutor in Clallam County, has made Haas’ handling of the McAllister case an issue in the campaign.

Challenger James Kennedy

Months ago we filed a public records request for all communications between Haas and McAllister’s defense attorney.  We did not receive the last installment, comprising 900 pages, until the day after the primary election, which showed Haas trailing Kennedy by double digits.  We have reviewed the court files and the victim’s deposition. We have spoken with the victim, her brother, and the former prosecutor who succeeded in convicting McAllister in his first trial.  We have spoken with other people who participated in the case, some off the record as their employment situation prevents them from speaking publicly.

Kennedy’s charges (click here) are serious enough.

We found that Haas’ mishandling of the case and his treatment of the victim were worse than Kennedy alleged.

Our report will be released in installments. Haas has not answered any of our questions.  His emails, text messages and court documents will speak for him.

The victim’s name will not be published. She has built a new life and a career outside Jefferson County.  She wanted this case prosecuted again even though Haas’ behavior led her to question his commitment.

In their first conversation, Haas asked her to travel to the defense lawyer’s office in Tacoma for a highly irregular pre-trial deposition.  She wanted to meet in advance, but Haas rebuffed her request. She showed up unprepared.  She was questioned for hours by an investigator and the lawyer for the accused rapist about matters prohibited under the state’s rape shield laws.  Haas never objected.  The deposition lasted over four hours—without a lunchbreak—and ended when Haas said he had an appointment in Port Townsend.

The defense lawyer wanted her back for more questioning.  Haas consented and requested a date from her.  She offered a Saturday when she would not be working.  Before rushing back to Port Townsend, Haas told her he found her courageous and believed her.  He assured her there would at least be a plea bargain. She would get some justice.  The second deposition never occurred.  That was the first and last time she saw the man who was supposed to be prosecuting her rapist.

She heard no more from Haas.  She says she called his office and personal cell phone repeatedly.  She had her brother try. He says Haas ignored him.  She says when she managed to get Haas on the line, he said he was at dinner with his wife and could not talk.  Another time he said he was unable to speak because he was with his children.  She says he called when he knew she’d be at work.  They set a time to talk.  Haas did not keep that appointment.

Then she got “an email bomb” from Haas. Patrick McAllister, previously found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of raping and assaulting her, a man with a long record of violently abusing women, could rest easy.  Haas was dropping all charges.  In the email Haas said he believed her.  But Haas told the court he believed McAllister.

“I never expected the man who was supposed to be on my side,” SL says, “to be the one to do this.”

Next:  A One-Way Street on the Way to Dismissal.  You can read that story by clicking here.

Also relevant:  The Questions Michael Haas Won’t Answer